System for providing commercial advertising to a telephone user on hold

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing information to a telecommunications customer who has been placed in the hold state by a telecommunications network providing a call connection to said customer. The information may be in the form of an advertisement in which case the carrier can derive revenue from providing the service. The information can be selected based on the customer profile so that the most appropriate advertisement is transmitted to the customer who is on hold.

RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is related to an Application entitled “A System ForProviding Commercial Advertising To A Telephone User,” by the inventorof this Application, being filed concurrently herewith and assigned tothe assignee of this Application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a system and apparatus for providingcommercial advertisements to a telephone user on hold.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many sources of information provided to a telephone user inaddition to the telephone communication. Examples include signals suchas dial tone (signifying that the user may start dialing); busy toneindicating that the called party is busy; fast busy indicating that thenetwork is overloaded and that the call cannot be completed at thistime; call waiting tone indicating that another party is trying to reachthe party to which the call waiting tone is applied; and announcementssuch as the fact that the called party telephone number is no longer inservice. These types of signals have been enhanced in recent years bysignals such as the calling party identification displayed to a calledtelephone customer; and announcements that the caller may automaticallynotify the called party of his/her number in case the called party doesnot answer a call. Special audible logos are frequently applied to acall to identify the carrier of the call. U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,788describes arrangements for transmitting information such as anidentification of the called party and providing further informationuseful to the caller from the called party. U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,204discloses arrangements in the telephone switching network for allowing acaller to select the music on hold to be provided while the caller iswaiting for an answer from a busy automatic call distributor network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Applicant has analyzed all of these types of signals and announcementsprovided through the telephone network and has recognized a problem or,more properly stated, a missed opportunity. None of these arrangementsprovide facilities for returning to a caller on hold or a called partyon hold an advertisement from a third party which is neither the callernor the called party nor the telecommunications carrier handling thecall. In accordance with Applicant's invention, announcement facilitiesare provided to transmit an advertisement to a caller on hold or acalled party on hold. Advantageously, such an arrangement can be asource of substantial additional revenue to a telecommunications commoncarrier.

In accordance with one feature of Applicant's invention, theadvertisement is selected so that the most profitable type ofadvertisement can be provided, based on the identity of the recipient ofthe advertisement. For example, data can be stored for each customer ora group of customers to help direct the selection of the advertisement.The advertisement can be selected according to the location of thecustomer. Other advertisements, for example for TV shows, can beselected by time of day and/or day of week. Alternatively, theadvertisement can be selected without regard to the customer.

In accordance with another feature of Applicant's invention, the lengthof the message is measured and recorded so that an appropriate bill canbe provided to the advertiser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of Applicant'sinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating when announcements can be playedto a telephone customer;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of playing anannouncement;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of editing theannouncement and customer database;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the editing of a customerdatabase;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating customer response capability;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the recording of a memo by acustomer; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating how a customer can control thereception of selected data during hold intervals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of Applicant'sinvention. A calling telephone 2 is being served by a switch 1. Theswitch 1 accesses an advertisement processor 10 when the opportunity toplay an announcement is recognized, i.e., when either party on aconnection is placed on hold. Switch 1 sends a message 11 containing aheld party identification 12 (in general, the held party's telephonenumber or billing number) and a transaction number 13, to anadvertisement processor 10. The advertisement processor 10 accessesdatabase 20. Database 20 consults its customer database 29 and based onthe information received from that customer database selects anannouncement from its announcement database 28. The announcement isreturned in a message 24 to the advertisement processor. Message 24includes the announcement message 25 derived from the announcementdatabase and the transaction number 26 to identify the transaction. Theadvertisement processor then returns message 15 containing thetransaction number 16 and the announcement message 17 to the switchconnected to the party on hold. The switch uses the transaction numberto identify the call on which the message should be announced.

The overall system also includes one or more advertisement announcementand customer database generating terminals 30 which can access theadvertisement processor. When an announcement is to be edited, added ordeleted or the customer database is to be modified to steer differentkinds of announcements to a caller with a particular telephone number,then the terminal 30 accesses advertisement processor 10 which in turnaccesses the database 20. It accesses the database 20 with message 31requesting the advertisement or customer data to be edited and respondswith message 32 containing the new advertisement or customer data. Thecustomer data can be based on many commercial databases which identifythe particular kinds of advertisements that are most appropriate (musicevents, CDs, sports events, sports equipment, financial informationcomputer equipment) for a particular telephone customer.

The switch contains announcement/music play equipment 3, customerdisplay control 7 for driving customer displays, and caller ID driver 5for communicating to the customer.

The database 20 also contains a billing database to accumulate recordsfor which advertisement or advertisements from a particular source wereplayed for which customers so that the advertisers can be appropriatelybilled.

A customer server 4 is also connected to the switch 1. This server canbe used, for example, to record memos to be provided to the caller whenthe caller makes his/her next call, or upon request from the caller.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a typical call. The initial state is idle(action block 201). The calling customer then picks up the handset anddials the called number (action block 203). After dialing is complete(action block 205) (for a cellular call, this is after the “send” buttonhas been pressed), the calling and called parties are connected (actionblock 207)

If during the course of the call a party is placed on hold (action block209) then an announcement can be played during the hold interval to theheld party (action block 211). The hold announcement can be played toeither the originating or the terminating customer, whichever one isplaced on hold.

When the party on hold is restored to the connection, the announcementis terminated (action block 213). Eventually, the call is disconnectedand the calling and called telephones revert to idle (action block 215).

While the above description has been for an ordinary analog telephone,telephones equipped with displays (including calling line identificationdisplays) can have announcement type information visually displayed.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of playing anannouncement. The caller identification and a transaction number ispassed from the switch to an advertisement processor (action block 301).While in this description the advertisement processor is shown as aseparate unit, in alternative embodiments the advertisement processor issimply a logical sub-entity of the switch and its control processor.

The advertisement processor passes the caller identification and thetransaction number to the database 20 (action block 303). The databaseresponds with the announcement message to be played and the transactionnumber (action block 305). The advertisement processor 10 passes themessage and the transaction number to the switch (action block 307). Theannouncement equipment 3 in the switch plays the announcement to thecaller (action block 309). In the case of an announcement being providedto a call on hold, this may be provided to a called party. The switchmeasures the length of the announcement and passes billing informationto the advertisement processor and database (action block 311). Theswitch returning the announcement can be the switch serving the calledparty if that party goes on hold.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of editing theannouncement and customer database. An advertising announcement controlterminal accesses the advertisement processor (action block 401). Theadvertisement processor accesses the database and returns theappropriate announcement and customer data (action block 403). Theterminal edits the announcement and customer data and returns the editedversion to the advertisement processor (action block 405). Theadvertisement processor then updates the database (action block 407).

FIG. 5 illustrates the process of accepting customer requests for typeof advertising or information to be supplied to the customer. Thecustomer calls the customer server (action block 501). A dialogue takesplace between the customer and the server (action block 503). The serveraccesses the advertisement processor (AP) (action block 505) and the APaccesses the database and updates the data describing the profile of thecustomer (action block 507).

FIG. 6 illustrates operations for collecting customer feedback. Acustomer hears a survey or advertisement (action block 601). Thecustomer is asked whether he/she wishes to respond (action block 603).If the customer does not wish to respond then this is the end of thetransaction (action block 605). The end may be either the failure by thecustomer to respond or the customer's responding with, for example, astar symbol.

If the customer wishes to respond then the customer supplies a signal,typically, a dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) signal (action block 607).Information from these signals is passed on by the advertisementprocessor 10 to the database 20.

FIG. 7 illustrates the process of recording a memo from the customer.The customer wishes to record a memo (action block 701). The customeraccesses the customer server (action block 703). A dialogue takes placebetween the customer server and the customer (action block 705). Thecustomer records his/her memo (action block 707) which is stored eitherin the customer server or in the database. Subsequently, the callingcustomer (or someone else in the customer's home) is placed on hold(action block 709). The recorded memo is then played back to the callingcustomer (action block 711).

FIG. 8 illustrates operations for identifying selected data to beaccessed during hold intervals. The customer wishes to access selecteddata during these intervals (action block 801). The customer accessesthe customer server (action block 803). A dialogue takes place betweenthe customer server and the customer (action block 805). The customerserver stores data for identifying the selected data (action block 807).Subsequently, when the customer uses his/her station the customer serverfetches the selected data and causes it to be played to the customer(action block 809).

This arrangement can also be used by customers who do not wish to hearadvertising, music, or other information during call on hold intervals.The dialogue with the customer server should allow for this possibility.This dialogue can also be used for requesting a particular kind of musicfor these intervals.

The above description is of one preferred embodiment of Applicant'sinvention. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Forexample, the advertisement processor and database may be combined intoone unit and/or the advertisement processor may be a part of the switch.The advertisement processor and database may be distributed unitswherein different advertisers have separate processors and databases forresponding to the switch. The invention is limited only by the attachedclaims.

1. In a telecommunications network, a method of providing an advertisingmessage to a telephone user on hold comprising the steps of: at leastone advertiser providing data for messages to a database of saidtelecommunications network; in said network, recognizing a hold state ofa call connection, wherein said hold state is applied by saidtelecommunications network, wherein a message can be transmitted to atelecommunications station on hold; accessing said database to find amessage from said at least one advertiser to be transmitted to saidtelecommunications station and transmitting the accessed message to saidtelecommunications station; wherein said at least one advertiser is nota carrier of said telecommunications network or a party holding saidcall connection to said telecommunications station or a customer servedby said telecommunications station.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein anadvertisement processor receives data from said at least one advertiser;said advertisement processor storing the received data in said database.3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: storing acustomer profile for each of a plurality of customers of saidtelecommunications network; and selecting said message based on datastored in a customer profile of a customer of said telecommunicationsstation.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said data comprises ageographic location of said telecommunications station.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising the step of: collecting billing data foradvertising announcements played to customers.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein said message comprises a logo or company name.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising the steps of: recording a memo from acustomer of said telecommunications station; and playing said memo assaid message to be transmitted to said telecommunications station. 8.The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: a customer ofsaid telecommunications station providing information identifying dataof interest to said customer of said telecommunications station; andplaying the data of interest to said customer as said message.
 9. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: requesting input fromsaid telecommunications station in response to said message; andcollecting inputs from said telecommunications station sent in responseto said message.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said message is amusical passage.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein a customer of saidtelecommunications station controls a type of music to be supplied insaid message.
 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:asking a customer of said telecommunications station if he/she wishes toreceive more information; and responsive to receipt of a dual tonemultifrequency (DTMF) signal, recording that said customer is to receiveadditional information.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein messages aresent to caller ID equipment of said telecommunications station.
 14. In atelecommunications network, apparatus for providing a message to atelephone user on hold comprising: a database; means for permitting atleast one advertiser to provide data for messages to said database;means for recognizing a hold state of a call connection wherein the holdstate is applied by the telecommunications network and wherein a messagecan be transmitted during said hold state to a telecommunicationsstation on hold; means for accessing said database to find a messagefrom said at least one advertiser to be transmitted to saidtelecommunications station; means for transmitting the accessed messageto said telecommunications station; wherein said at least one advertiseris not a carrier of said telecommunications network or a party holdingsaid call connection or a customer served by said telecommunicationsstation.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising: anadvertisement processor for receiving data from said at least oneadvertiser; said advertisement processor for storing the received datain said database.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising:means for storing a customer profile for each of a plurality ofcustomers of said telecommunications network; and means for selectingsaid message based on data stored in a customer profile of a customer ofsaid telecommunications station.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14 furthercomprising: means for requesting input from said telecommunicationsstation in response to said message; and means for collecting inputsfrom said telecommunications station sent in response to said message.18. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said message is a musical passage.19. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein messages are sent to calleridentification equipment of said telecommunications station.